10-20-12 Steviehhi: It does seem obvious. I hear many gurus say Maliki is bad and doesn't want his people to prosper; and I say baloney. The opposite is true. 77 percent of the people approve of him. It's not that I don't like Shabs but he's been holding this thing up by putting demands Maliki.

That's like Ben Bernanke putting demands on the US President. Bernanke does what he wants when he wants; as does the President. Therefore it is the same for Shabs. He should have RV'd this thing long ago but he's been just as stubborn as Maliki.

And whether you like it or not, the GOI doesn't work in its present form. The Iraqi List (Allawi) is always holding things up by walking out of Parliament, blowing things up, etc. For heaven’s sake, the VP Hashemi is wanted by INTERPOL! So it seems to me that Allawi is the one that needs to go! After all, when he was in power before Maliki got voted in, what did he accomplish for the people?...Read More Link On Right

10-20-12 Mountainman: Shabibi has received a lot more support today from his supporters and allies. Saleh, Sadr and 85 economists, academics, and intellectuals all have given their complete support for Shabibi and also wrote a memo calling it a smear campaign and listing the dangers of continuing down this path and giving Maliki more control comparing him to "Saddam’s fascist regime." I really can't see Shabibi not coming out on top with this one. I have a feeling there is much to this we are unaware of and I'm sure the RV is in there somewhere. Would love to be a fly on the wall during this investigation. 10-20-12 DocDinar: Iraq is producing record oil exports, mining massive amounts of gold and the World Bank just doubled The World Bank has doubled their investment into Iraq for financing of several projects that amount to $800 million dollars, "Increasing this number associated with the implementation of projects agreed upon in accordance with a specific time and plans raise the confidence of international bank Iraqi side. The implementation of strategic projects that will raise the number of donors for Iraq, which projects implemented through the World Bank." As Iraq's wealth increases, sectors grow, outside investment pours in and we get closer to the RV suddenly there's a big fight for CBI control. To me this is a clear sign that we are closer than ever and that we are only seeing this power struggle because there is so much on the line. 10-20-12 John Lee: Iraq’s Oil Exports Head for Another Record. Reuters reports that Iraq’s crude oil exports from its southern ports have risen by 120,000 bpd so far in October compared to last month, suggesting the country is on course to reach its highest export rate in decades. According to shipping data, exports from Basra have averaged 2.30 million bpd in the first 18 days of October, up from 2.18 million bpd in September. Shipments in August of 2.25 million bpd were the highest since before the 2003 invasion. With around 400,000 bpd from the northern oil fields, Iraq looks on course to export more in October than September’s level of 2.6 million bpd, which was its highest total exports in more than 30 years. The country is aiming to boost shipments to over 2.8 million bpd this month, an Iraqi oil official said last week; this would require exports to increase even more in the coming days. “Iraq has the production and the export capacity, so they are ramping up,” said a source at a Western oil company which buys Iraqi oil. “And for once, Iraq is having smooth export programs and operations.”